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End of Semester Review - Dec. 14th, 2025

Expectations vs. Reality

The main things that I expected was literally learning more about “Autonomous Aircraft Technology and Maintenance”. Some of the things that I thought we were going to be learning this semester didn’t pertain to waivers or other legislation, also Part 108 is super prevalent to our major and industry. So, I’m glad we took the time to cover it as much as we did! I also did think that we were going to do more building and designing of parts but I’m super thankful for how far we did get! I really enjoyed every part of the learning and being able to apply it to the construction of the Believers.

Overview of the Semester

The overall semester comprised of a few things like flight controller setup, flashing firmware, sensor configuration, and DATX mods. All of these were met with their own challenges, but ones I’m thankful that we were given the opportunity to overcome! These are important because whenever a problem arises within a system, even if you’re not the one that built it, it’s important to understand how the system functions to get an idea of what’s wrong. The main reason why we dealt with this this semester was due to the fact that we were constructing a training drone for those preparing to fly the Ultra from Windracers. So, we flashed their firmware on our controllers and laid them out as if they were flying the Ultra themselves. Some of the other things that we dabbled in was soldering, drawing wiring diagrams, and also altitude wavier writing. This is also super important to remember because having documentation for things others have to come back to is crucial, especially when working with a team.

Value of building from Scratch

The main things that I learned from starting with a blank slate is that the process and solution may not be simple but given a steady pace you will find a solution. Especially with the drone industry breaking new ground frequently it’s important to keep on top of legislation and operation processes. It was definitely interesting building your own system instead of having a plug and play system because the software implementation between the open and closed system was really fun to get around. I definitely learned a plethora of information and I’m excited to apply my problem-solving skills in the future!

Skill Growth & Technical Learning

In reality there was so much that we covered over this course, and along with the prior knowledge that I brought it, it definitely prepared me to be successful in this course! Some of the basic yet important things that we were required to get the hang of was soldering and hardware assembly. This is a huge part of UAS due to the fact that we deal a great amount with circuit boards for our flight controllers. Then if we want to add something in the future to it was known either how to fix something or create something new. System architecture and integration was definitely more developed in terms of software this semester. The main reason for this is because prior to this semester I’d had no experience when it came to any sort of flight controller, open or closed. One other thing that I gained from this class was troubleshoot with the firmware and configuration management. Understanding the operating limitations of the airframe and the circuitry is super important when constructing an aircraft because if something goes wrong someone can easily track down a fault. Finally, shoutout to my team with the hard work they put in this semester getting as far as we did on this build of the Believers. It’s hard enough working from scratch but also with missing bits of information made for good discussions of potential allies to take!

What Surprised You

The main thing that I found easier than expected was how seamlessly the Cude Blue was to integrate into the Believers. With all of the ports available to utilize in a specific way it was really fun utilizing those for teaching moments and in application! The challenges that ended up being the most educational was honestly the opened and closed system firmware flashing. When doing these assignments, they were definitely a lot, but it helped me get an appreciation for systems like these that can be changed and modified if someone is willing to put in the work. One of the moments where things finally clicked, even though we only covered this for a few lectures, would be the calculations of flight distance and battery care based on the numbers displayed on the outside of the battery. This really helped because it doesn’t just help someone pick out the right battery for a system but also how ensure the right current and voltages are entering a system.

What You’re Most Proud Of

A skill that I’m most proud of this year was definitely improving my soldering skills and being more comfortable in that to hopefully integrate more into future projects. A problem that I helped solve was a basic wiring diagram construction that my group was nervous to tackle due to the number of parts involved. The main things that I helped contribute to my group and allowed all of us to have a successful semester was drawing up wiring diagrams, writing wavier templates, and assisting in basic lab requirements. It was honestly so much fun leveraging my technology skills to assist my group in the problems they were facing.

Overall Takeaways

Overall, this course has increased by confidence with UAS hardware on many important fronts that will greatly benefit me in the future! Some things that I’m taking into future courses, internships, and research projects is just the general basis of understanding of these systems. These systems are very well laid out and once you understand how they work the sky is literally the limit! I’m excited to see where my future career takes me and what kinds of projects I’m going to be involved in to continue to progress this market forward! The bigger picture value of the semester for me was definitely a success from the standpoint that I’m taking a lot with me that I can implement into future courses!

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